12.07.2015

Review: Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan

Raisa was just a child when she was sold to work as a slave in the kingdom of Qilara. Despite her young age, her father was teaching her to read and write, grooming her to take his place as a Learned One. In Qilara, the Arnathim, like Raisa, are the lowest class, and literacy is a capital offense. What’s more, only the king, prince, tutor, and tutor-in-training are allowed to learn the very highest order language, the language of the gods. So when the tutor-in-training is executed for teaching slaves this sacred language, and Raisa is selected to replace her, Raisa knows any slipup on her part could mean death.

Keeping her secret is hard enough, but the romance that’s been growing between her and Prince Mati isn’t helping matters. Then Raisa is approached by the Resistance—an underground army of slave rebels—to help liberate Arnath slaves. She wants to free her people, but that would mean aiding a war against Mati. As Raisa struggles with what to do, she discovers a secret that the Qilarites have been hiding for centuries—one that, if uncovered, could bring the kingdom to its knees.

First Line: "I never knew Tyasha ke Demit, but her execution started everything."Review: Raisa is a slave she is also a tutor since the last one was executed for treason due to helping with the resistance that is brewing amongst the slaves. Raisa likes being a tutor especially since it will help her finally read her heart verse something her father gave to her before he was killed and her people were enslaved, she didn't expect to fall for the kind-hearted Prince Mati or be asked by her people to risk her life to help with the rebellion as well.Raisa was a frustrating character most of the time. At first I really felt for her what she has endured and what her people have been through but at times I found her to be selfish especially when she was approached to help the other slaves and she flat out refused, at that moment I wasn't the biggest fan of her, I mean you see what your people are going through and you are in a position to help them but instead all you can do is think about yourself. I also wasn't a fan of some of her stupid decisions that put her and Mati in danger. So much could have been avoided. Luckily she does redeem herself for the most part.Prince Mati, on the other hand, was very likable. At times, he seemed too perfect but still loved his character. He had a lot on his plate and if fleshed out would have made for a more interesting and complex character than Raisa, I would have seriously loved some chapters from his point of view. I'm not going to give spoilers but let's just say crap happens and he has a lot more on his shoulders than what he wanted to deal with. The romance between Raisa and Mati was sweet but like I said previously he was just too perfect especially when it came to dealing with Raisa and the things this girl did that literally put him in jeopardy.Even though it may seem like I have quite a few issues with the characters mainly Raisa, Sword and Verse was a fairly quick read it did slow down a bit here and there but I mostly flew through the book. The overall plot was interesting I was very curious to see how the rebellion would pan out and then there was the story of the gods which also kept my attention. I was worried for a bit that this might have a love triangle, but rest assured there was none and I love the fact that this was a standalone.

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